Ticking Clocks
by SilverPedals1402
Summary: Tony Stark has never been good at remembering dates–but not this time around. This time he fully intends on making it to that date. Except he has one little problem: he's been kidnapped. Now, how's he going to explain that to his date?
1. Chapter 1

**Kay, so I know I'm shouldn't be adding another story, but this one was actually written like 2 years ago, BUT I'm actually rewriting it. I've got about 10 chapters to work with here and its just a matter of rewriting them to my likings to get them out. Though my other stories take priority, it's all in what I'm in the mood for and don't have a case of writers' block on. Let me know if it's worth continuing. :)**

 **Disclaimer: IMAA belongs to its rightful owners. Meaning, not me.**

His life has been far beyond ordinary and definitely not shy of excitement. He's had his fair share of thrills, adventures, and even pain to probably last him a lifetime and then some. Though, he could honestly say that tonight was the first night in a long while where he realized that there was far more happiness in the world for him to have. That even with his past experiences as the spoiled and prodigy son of Howard Stark, he was still lacking the true essence of happiness.

Tonight was a special night.

Never in his life would he even imagine missing such a milestone in his life. Not even if the whole network of underground criminals tried to say otherwise–especially if they did. Not even if his father, or anyone else for that matter, denied him of his earned happiness. Not that his dad would ever do such a cold-hearted thing. He would never miss nor be late, even if he'd been sick and lying in his death bed. Oh no, especially not even then. No doctor, friend, parent, or building was going to hold him down from being where his happiness resided.

Now, he's never had a good record with this kind of thing. Whitney was living proof of his poor record, not that anyone but the blonde herself was counting. He's been bad at paying attention to important dates like birthdays, due dates, and soon-to-be anniversaries. Though, knowing who he'd be sharing those anniversaries, he couldn't imagine being able to forget the dates. The girl, whom he'll swear up and down he's fallen for to anyone who'll listen–that means his best friend Rhodey–who is always on top of dates and events that he should be aware of.

Pepper Potts.

He vividly remembered the first day he realized that his feelings for her went beyond the boundaries of friends. She'd been so impossibly adorable.

…

 _He was patiently sitting on the not-so-cushy couch just beyond the changing rooms as he waited for his redheaded friend to finish. Watching the clock to the right corner of the room, he wondered why it was always him stuck with this job. Wasn't Rhodey just as much a friend to the redhead as the genius himself was? Why did Rhodey never step up for this role?_

" _You grew up with this sort of thing, didn't you?" Rhodey always asked, referring to the fancy company parties Tony had to attend as a child. Which, made him Pepper's go to when she needed anything relating to party etiquette, dancing, or fancy attire._

 _Pepper finally stepped out, fabric spilling out of her bunched up hands as she met his gaze. "Too much? It feels too...fluffy."_

 _She twists and turns in front of him and the mirror with her lip tightly held in a flat line. Tony tried not to yawn as he scanned her from head to toe from exhaustion from his latest overnighter. He noticed the tight, red fabric hug her upper torso, emphasizing her narrow, yet fit, waist only to fan out drastically like a ball gown; which was exactly what it was. He shook his head, despite the wonders it did for her figure, the color and style were all wrong for both her and the party she was going to. "Yeah, I'd say try the lavender or even the green dress. Those seem more appropriate."_

 _The redhead took one last glance at herself in the glamorous dress and shrugged, thankfully not offended as that had been the dress she'd shown the most enthusiasm for when she pulled it from the racks. "I agree, too formal for the event."_

 _Tony wouldn't really say that the event was too formal. Sure, most people going there were probably dressed to the nines, but likely only to impress his dad. This party being the first company party since the surprise return of his father to the "land of the living". It was more of a formal celebration thrown to commemorate the grand occasion to give those who remained most loyal to the elder Stark, even in "death", a chance to truly accept that he really is alive and well. And being the man's son, it was a given that Tony would be attending and although it wasn't required, they all expected him to bring a date. Pepper, albeit not his girlfriend, was happy to attend as his "date". Little did he expect that Pepper would actually take the whole thing so seriously that she'd need to buy a whole new dress. Along with new shoes, earrings, and even makeup–which he luckily didn't have to attend all those shops. Shoes and dresses were about his limit as far as shopping was involved. That didn't take account of the endless dancing lessons Pepper needed._

 _Now, Pepper wasn't exactly clumsy. She was actually quite sturdy on her feet despite her cluttered mind and motor mouth. Though when it came to dancing, Pepper had been comparable to a toddler learning to walk. Many weeks of bruised toes, sweaty palms, and immeasurable moments of awkward physical contact later Pepper was finally properly taught how to dance if ever she decided the dance floor was for them at the party._

 _He glanced up from his thoughts as she slipped back out this time gracing them with a gentler dress made of eloquent lace which wrapped her upper torso and shoulders and silk flowed from her waist and colored with stunning lavender. A tad more revealing than the previous dresses, but far more appropriate for the occasion. He smiled, not just for her benefit this time, and nodded his approval. "Hang up the rest of the dresses, I think we found a keeper!"_

" _Really? You think it'll be appropriate for your dad's party?" she wondered, a gleaming smile stretching across her cheeks._

 _Pepper's excitement from his words elicited a new sort of feeling from Tony as he watched her gaze adoringly at the mirror at the chosen dress. He felt warmer than the steady 68 degrees the store was set at. It was strange how something as commonplace as shopping with his friend had brought on such a strong feeling. Suddenly, the Pepper that stood before him wearing the most beautiful dress he's ever seen, was no longer just a pretty face. She was beautiful; beyond beautiful actually. She had the face of a woman he wouldn't mind staring at for years at a time and a smile that could heat him up even in the coldest of winters._

 _In his eyes, she was no longer someone he wanted to be just friends with._

" _Tony?" Her soft voice brought him from his revelation and to her already dressed back in her regular clothes. "Hello? Earth to Tony!"_

 _He blinked and rubbed the nape of his neck. He forced those thoughts to the back of his mind. Pepper would never like him in such a way. Besides, what kind of friend would he be if he suddenly expected otherwise from her? "Sorry," he managed. "Ready to go?"_

…

It wasn't long after that when the Makluan invasion happened and the two finally realized that the feelings they held for each other were mutual. Which brought them to now; their first date.

Their first date that was planned to start off with dinner at six o'clock then to some movie or another–he could never remember, which is why Pepper chose it–to where he would then drive her home promptly ten minutes before her so-call curfew. So-called because her dad never bothers to reinforce the curfew, even when he is home. Either way, it was supposed to be a fun and eventful night out in the city with his new-found girlfriend. Maybe a little cheesy and cliche, but certainly still a blast for the two.

Yet as he looked at the clock now, he knew he'd never make that date. Actually, according to the schedule he actually had planned out–for once in his life–he already missed that date. By a long shot. The date he'd promised he wouldn't miss for the world.

Why did he miss this important date of his? Why had he broken the one promise he held so dear to himself? The promise he promised he wouldn't break?

Oh right, he's been kidnapped.

 **Haha, so there. Short and probably not so sweet in terms of situation, but easy to read, no? The next chapters may vary in length. Originally they weren't all that long as two years ago (actually, this was probably written way back when I was still just a freshmen) I wasn't too keen on long chapters as far as I remember. So who knows what the rewrite would bring. Again, let me know if this is worth looking into getting out more. :)**

 **Fun Fact: _I've learned the very hard lesson of cars on icy roads and car repairs...All in one day throughout the whole day. -_-_**

 ** _Hugs and Love, SilverPedals!_**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey everyone! It's 2017 now! I'd say my New Years resolution would be to write more, but haha, I hardly have time to sleep these days. :P But I did get this out for you! You guys seemed to enjoy the first chapter, so here you are! Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: IMAA does not belong to me.**

While nursing the newfound bump near the back of his head, which he surprisingly hadn't noticed until now, he found himself uncomfortably pulling at his tie. Figures the one time he actually puts an effort into a date–despite Pepper only being his second girlfriend–he'd completely miss it. He looked up at the clock, half wondering what time it was and half wondering if someone would at least show up to explain why he's been kidnapped in the first place. Of course, he doubted anybody else would be up at such a ridiculous hour, after all, it was already past three in the morning. Yet, he still couldn't find himself to believe that someone would kidnap a person only to go take a cozy nap before properly introducing themselves. Just his luck, he supposed.

He sighed. "Man, it's hot in here."

Despite the heat, he didn't want to make himself too comfortable in this place. He certainly didn't plan on sticking around much longer–in fact, if it hadn't been for the head-splitting pain from the injury he could only guess landed him here in the first place, he would have been home free for sure. Speaking of escaping, he's tried just about all he could in his current state of mind to at least alert someone of his kidnapping, be it by Extremis–which strangely didn't work aside from weak flashes in the single lightbulb hanging from the ceiling–to his fancy watch they carelessly left on his wrist that he realized wasn't even reading him the time correctly. In the end, all his efforts were fruitless and only resulted in either utter failure or sharp pains in his head.

 _Yeah_ , he surrendered silently, _this stupid injury isn't helping_.

Pausing his in meaningful, yet hopeless attempts at escaping, he sat back on the one piece of usable furniture in the room not counting the single ticking clock on the wall that was starting to drive him mad–it certainly wasn't alleviating any pain to his head. Though he supposed he probably shouldn't complain too much about the lack of furniture, that probably could have aided in a future vanishing act he plans to perform for this place and it's "people", as they had been so kind as to provide a place for him to relieve himself were he to have an emergency. One the other hand, his grumbling stomach had much to say to cancel out the one kind deed his kidnappers had done for him.

He almost laughed. To think that not only an hour before this all happened, his only concern was whether he should wear a tie or not.

* * *

 _Earlier That Day_

Staring down at the row of ties he dug up from the back of his closet, he almost felt like the girls from Tomorrow Academy as they debated about what dress they would wear to the next dance. Should he wear the red tie? The blue one? Black? No, they were all wrong; too fancy for the movies. But he wanted this night to be special, and he wanted his date to know that he cared more about this date than just getting the girl. Overdressed or not, he was going to look nice on their first date. Seemed simple enough when he dragged the darned ties out in the first place, but rapidly became more and more complicated as he realized that he had more ties than he originally thought.

 _Maybe I ought to donate some_ , he off-handedly commented to himself.

Scratching thoughtfully at his head, he looked at the mirror to see if maybe the visual would help him decide what tie looked best with his current outfit. Looking only made it worse as he realized just how overdressed he was. He scoffed, he was likely dressed far too fancy for even the fanciest dinner parties in the city. But what else could he wear that showed that he both cared for her and their date, but also displays that he's not trying too hard?

"What's the occasion?"

Choking on his gasp, he clasped the front of his neat, white button down shirt. "Dad!" He swallowed and moved away from the mirror, trying–and failing–to act normal. "Uh...I'm just...Uhm...I have to…"

The eldest Stark just rose an eyebrow in amusement. "Are you going to a party?"

Tony couldn't see it himself, but he could just tell that his face matched that of his armor–maybe even rivaled it. He'd forgotten that he hadn't quite shared the news of his date with Pepper to anyone, let alone his dad. He didn't particularly know why he hasn't shouted out to the world that she had said yes, multiple times in fact, or at least rubbed it in Rhodey's face that he's got a girlfriend before him. Again. He honestly didn't, because he felt no shame in the fact that he was dating Pepper Potts.

Yet, here his dad stood, giving him the perfect time to break the news to him that he was going on a date with Pepper and he still couldn't say anything to him.

"Uh...something like that," he chuckled, rubbing at his neck nervously.

A knowing smile stretched across Howard's lips, one Tony knew very well. "It's a girl, isn't it? You're going on a date with Pepper!"

Before Tony could respond, his dad had approached him and quickly eyed him over before brushing off the younger man's shoulders and correctly creasing the collar of his shirt. "You might want to fix up a bit before leaving."

"What?" Tony glanced down, electric eyes scanning for even the tiniest wrinkles in his shirt. Maybe he shouldn't have pulled out the old iron earlier.

"You missed a few buttons," his dad informed him, creases forming around his mouth in his amused smile.

Tony groaned and began unbuttoning his shirt entirely and glanced back at the clock. He nodded to himself, assuring that he still had plenty of time to figure out the mess that he was quickly becoming.

"Actually," Howard stopped him. "I'd forget about that shirt and maybe go with the red button down instead and lose the coat." At Tony's confused look, his dad gave him a pointed look. "Her favorite color is red."

"Oh," Tony slowly nodded. "Right."

How his dad knew what Pepper's favorite color was was beyond him, but he instantly saw the value in his dad's words. "Black tie, right?" he wondered as he slipped into the mentioned red button down.

At his father's approval and help, Tony found himself more than prepared for their date and a whole hour earlier than planned. Of all the things, he hadn't expected the clothing to hold him up so long in the first place. He figured the hardest part was going to be getting over the nerves of leaving to pick her up, but in the end, it was the darned ties that held him back.

"Son," Howard called as Tony went to make sure everything else was in order–for once in his life. The father approached the boy and placed a warm hand on his son's shoulder. "Make her happy."

Tony averted his eyes in embarrassment. "Uhm...Yeah. See you tonight, dad."

Little did he know that he wouldn't be making back home tonight, let alone Pepper's house.

* * *

 _Present Time (Next Morning)_

Rhodey was almost afraid to ask Pepper how her morning was when he met her at school that morning. One moment, she looked ready to bite any and all heads off of anyone who dared to bother her, then the next she looked unusually on the verge of tears. He half wanted to assume it was only because it was that time of the month for her, and that it was just safe to stand back and observe. Yet, something told him that there was more to this story than that.

"So, where's Tony at?" Rhodey innocently wondered, figuring of all things, Tony should at least be safe to talk about.

He could almost feel the daggers Pepper threw at him with her glare. "Probably hiding his head in the sand like the freaking chicken he is!"

"Isn't that the ostrich that does that?" Rhodey wondered, only half-joking, wincing at the annoyed punch Pepper tossed at his shoulder.

"Shut up," Pepper snapped as she crossed her arms. "I don't care what bird it is, he still ran chicken from our date last night."

Though Rhodey knew he shouldn't have been surprised by the news, he still found his eyes going wide. "Date? You were going out on a date with Tony? When did that happen?"

Pepper grumbled and groaned loudly. "It was supposed to be last night, but I never even got so little as a phone call from him! I mean, we've been planning this date for at least a week now! The least he could do is just tell me that he didn't want to date me. You know what I mean?"

"Hey," Rhodey held his hands up in mock surrender. "I'm neutral here. I'm sure Tony has his reasons for not showing up. Maybe Iron Man was needed and he forgot. He does that, you know. Have you tried calling him?"

"Only like a _million_ times!" Pepper said throwing her arms in the air.

Rhodey found himself frowning at the information, deciding it a tad bit odd that Tony hasn't responded at all to Pepper. If there was anything Rhodey knew about Tony at all, was that Pepper was his weakness. Even when he was mad at her, he always responded eventually to her calls after at least 50 messages. "I don't know, Pepper. Maybe he just got nervous about seeing you and didn't want to admit it."

Pepper only sighed and angrily stomped through the entryway of Tomorrow Academy, probably not in the mood for Tony's excuses–especially coming from Rhodey.

 _This is going to be a long day_ , Rhodey internally sighed. _Tony better get his stuff together._

* * *

Waking up, Tony was momentarily confused as to why he was sleeping, curled up on the concrete floor against the wall in some strange place. Even more confused about why his head hurt so much. Grazing his fingers through his hair, he quickly came to the same realization he had reached before as a jolting pain resulted when his fingers touched the bump on his head that also seemed to be ever-so-slightly moist with whatever blood hasn't dried off yet. He wanted to groan–meant to actually–but found himself laughing instead. Laughing to the point he heard his own voice echo off the walls around him, causing his head to ache even more. For a moment, he couldn't even tell if the rolling of his stomach was from his laughter, hunger, or nausea. He didn't even know if he cared.

He found himself partially disappointed when he woke up because he was hoping that maybe his head wouldn't hurt quite so much and his mind would clear enough for him to produce a coherent thought that would lead to his eventual freedom. Yet life was one disappointment after another, and it seemed not even sleep was looking out for him–what little sleep he did get.

Looking at the time, which read around noon, he sighed.

In only a few hours, if he remembered correctly, the clock would mark 24 hours since he was kidnapped, and yet he was still left without any sign of who it was that kidnapped him and for what. What kind of person kidnaps a person, just to keep them in a room? Of all the times Tony's been kidnapped–as Iron Man or otherwise–Tony has never experienced one where the captors didn't seem to care about the captive. Unless they were working some sort of deal with his dad for ransom.

 _But wouldn't that require proof of life?_ Tony wondered, rubbing his aching muscles.

He supposed they could have done it while he was sleeping. He wouldn't be surprised if there was a hidden camera somewhere. No, that wouldn't seem right. If he was sleeping and they took the "proof of life" picture, it'd just look like he's dead. Moot point, right there.

Suddenly bored of the thoughts that got him nowhere and the stupid ticking clock on the wall, Tony stood up and eyed the singular door that laid smack center on the wall adjacent to where he slept and to the small window across from it that wasn't even worth attempting to squeeze through. He almost forgot about that window.

Ignoring the window, he approached the door. Stupidly, he reached for the door curious for just a moment if he would have some sort of break in his luck and find it unlocked. He didn't know what surprised him the most.

The fact that it was unlocked and opened with ease…

Or the fact that there was nobody guarding the door.

 **So, what'd you think? I accidentally strayed pretty far from the original piece I wrote, but DEFINITELY for the better. But that also means it'll take a tad longer for chapters. Not too much, because I still have material to work with. I'm having fun with this story and hope to continue it again soon! As well as other stories too.**

 **Fun Fact: _I love helping others, but with group projects, I prefer to work alone._**

 **Well, I hope everyone's New Year was fantastic! (More so than mine, because I worked)**

 **Hugs and Love, SilverPedals! :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay, okay, okay. Writers block has got me hard lately, not to mention the usual school/college and speech thing. But, I managed to pull something together for you guys to read and I hope that it's enough to keep up happy until my next update. :) Maybe...Hopefully...Oh and I feel I should mention, compared to my other stories this one has a lot more of "inner thoughts" so anything _italicized_ (long sentences, obviously) are thoughts. Just to make that clear. :P **

**Disclaimer: IMAA doesn't belong to me. Simple as that.**

After about what seemed like an eternity of wandering through strangely empty hallways, he couldn't remember where he came from. Which was unfortunate as he couldn't return back to his room and pretend that their so very precious captive hadn't just spent his afternoon investigating the premises. He supposed it hadn't mattered since there was really nothing to show for, even after all the space he swears he's covered. Most, if not all, of the rooms, were empty and the ones that weren't–he assumed they weren't empty–were the ones that happened to be locked. Besides, he was yet to find an exit, let alone any signs of life.

He paused as he felt yet another yawn overcome him and he rested against the wall sleepily. Though he knew it wasn't the time to sleep, especially not in some random hallway of the building he's being held captive in.

A ticking sound and the resulting throb in his head alerted him to the clock beside him.

 _Evidently they only stock in clocks and chairs,_ he thought to himself thinking back to the several clocks he's passed and the various chairs throughout the hallways. Ignoring the thought, he glanced up the aggravating ticking device.

3:05.

Judging by the sunlight peeking in through the small windows, it was 3: 05 in the afternoon, not morning. _Rhodey and Pepper must be getting out of school right about now._ His head shot up at the thought, eliciting a startled yelp of pain from himself as he cradled the bump on his head. Rhodey! There was no question that he was searching for him already. He probably already had a rescue plan in place! And Pepper! She must be so worried and angry. She'll likely be the one kicking all the butt when they bust in for his rescue.

He laughed at the thought but ended up have to swallow it back down in worry that he'd throw up what little food he could. The hunger growl of his stomach has grown mixed with nausea that had set in a while ago. Though it was manageable at the moment since he's no stranger to going a day without food. He's found himself so lost in his armor or some other project that he'll often forget about a thing called "food".

 _What am I doing here?_ He suddenly found himself wondering as he pushed himself off the wall. Scanning the area, he realized that he had only taken a break in his venture for an escape route. Shaking off the confusion, he started walking in whatever direction he was pretty sure he hadn't gone yet.

The suddenly sound of footsteps other than his froze him on the spot. He remembers hearing once that in cases of fear, most people have a "fight or flight" response, but he just instinctively froze. The footsteps grew louder and louder and were approaching him from the back, but with his hammering heart and churning stomach, he knew he would be too late if he turns around. Though, that didn't stop him from trying.

Almost immediately, the walls around him began swirling and twisting faster than his eyes could keep up with and his stomach finally lost its fight to keep its contents inside. All the while he just barely caught a glimpse of someone's silhouette before he was hunching towards the floor in another fit of gagging as apparently his stomach had no more to give.

He saw the hand before it covered his mouth, but couldn't respond fast enough.

 _Well, that smells interesting…_

Catching one final, albeit very limited glance at his assailant, Tony couldn't help but imagine Pepper in the same shoes.

 _Pink would be prettier._

* * *

"Going to have a word with Tony?"

She groaned in annoyance as she pulled out her phone to see if maybe–just _maybe_ –Tony had responded in the last two minutes or so. _Of course not_ , she sighed. It wasn't like he already missed the whole school day anyway.

"Earth to Pepper."

She blinked and shook her head to clear them of the thoughts that were running through her mind. "Yeah, what? What happened?"

Rhodey sighed and rested a hand on her tense shoulder. "Pepper," he made sure he held her eyes with his before continuing. "Don't worry about it so much. I'm sure everything's fine."

"Worried?" Pepper wondered, almost surprised. Did she seem worried to him? "I'm not worried, I'm angry! He won't answer any of my calls or texts _or_ emails."

A part of her knew that maybe she was overreacting to say that she was so angry. A part of her knew that Tony had a life that didn't always involve responding to her every call. A part of her even knew that she was more upset than infuriated. But she remembered how she felt that day only a week ago, how jittery and ecstatic she was, when she had realized that Tony– _the_ Tony Stark–was asking her out on a date. Her. He had barely had to speak, or sputter out, the words out to her before she was bouncing excitedly on her toes in preparation to say yes–because what else would she say? She knew exactly what words he was trying to convey to her. Besides, she'd been waiting what seemed like ages to hear those words come from his mouth.

Which, in hindsight, was likely why she was so troubled–no, hurt. She held that date close to her heart, closer than she has held most of anything else in her life. She had really looked forward to that evening out with the boy she could really only describe as the boy of her dreams. Her hero. Literally and figuratively. Yet, he had left her alone on such an important night.

"He probably was busy and turned off his phone," Rhodey tried to assure her, breaking through her thoughts. "He's done that before. I wouldn't be surprised if his voicemail is full by now, anyway."

Pepper threw up her arms in a perfect example of her exasperated anger. "Exactly! I mean, what's with that? He's a genius and he even _made_ his phone, couldn't he figure out how to make an infinite voicemail?"

Rhodey sighed in his own exasperation. "I'll tell you what. I'll go stop by his place and the lab to see if he's there and talk to him to see what's up. No need to guilt trip him or scare him half to death. I'm sure there's a valid reason as to why he didn't show up or call."

"You'll call me, right?" Pepper asked skeptically.

Rhodey nodded. "Of course. I'll let you know what the verdict is. You just head home and clear your head. Trust me, yelling at Tony right now isn't going to help _anyone_."

She found herself nodding to his words in an odd mixture of understanding and resignation. Maybe Rhodey was right. That Tony had a perfectly good reason for missing their first date. It was pre-date jitters, somewhat like cold feet at a wedding. It was an Iron Man mission he was too wrapped up in to involve them in. It was an emergency family reunion. He was kidnapped. Each explanation she tried giving herself sounded more outrageous than the last. In the end, she had to accept Rhodey's advice and head home.

"Thanks, Rhodey," she said, finding that she couldn't think of anything else to say.

* * *

He felt absolutely, without a doubt miserable. Not only had he woken up to find that the room was practically below zero, but his head throbbed even more painfully than before and his stomach was beginning to become a little less ignorable. Not to mention it took him an uncomfortably long amount of time to realize or remember, where he was and what had happened. He feels like there was something big that he was forgetting. Yet, he couldn't bring himself to focus on anything other than his raging migraine.

The clock certainly wasn't helping.

It was around seven by the time his mind cleared up and he was able to move about freely again–or as freely as he could without stumbling out of balance. Though really there was nothing for him to do anyways so he sat and stared at the clock which caused him constant agony in the form of annoyance and sharp pains to his head.

Staring at the clock, he realized, had a similar effect to counting sheep. He realized this when suddenly the clock was approaching the eight o'clock mark and soon it read nine o'clock or so. With his periodic nodding off into sleep, he almost missed it.

A sound.

No, a footstep.

He almost ignored it at first. With his groggy mind still trying to realize that the rest of him was awake, his ears almost blended the ticking clock into the footsteps. It was the shadow the glided across the wall that alerted him to the presence of another person nearby. It was dark out, but somewhere out of view there was a street light giving him a little visual on the happenings of the outside world. Though until now, the outside world where he was held, was quite boring and barren.

Or so he thought.

Peeking out of the window that was just about eye level with him, he scanned the area with a purpose he hasn't felt since the first round of escape plans went through. A focus he hasn't been able to hold due to the stupid bump on his head–until now. It didn't take him long to catch the culprit, but judging by the amount he had to strain to make out his form, he was quite a distance away. But who cared?

Instantly, he was trying to open the window. Though unlike the luck he found earlier with the door, the window wouldn't budge.

"Hey!" he instinctively found himself shouting, despite the dilemma before him. "HEY!" No response. "HELP! Hey! You! HEY!"

He shouts and slams on the window with the hopes that the person will notice him. They became more panicked when he realized the person was stepping out of his vision. "NO! No, no, no, no, NO!" He slammed his fist against the window harshly, likely bruising his hand in the process. "Damn it!"

He removed himself from the window and slumped back in the one chair he was allowed in his resignation. _Maybe he needs to try a different window_...he had to wonder if the door would be unlocked as it was before. Certainly, it couldn't hurt to try.

The thought left his mind as soon as it came when he glanced towards the door. Because lying on the floor only a foot from the door and not much farther away from him, sat a steaming bowl of rice and a glass of water.

 _When did that get here?_

* * *

 _Earlier That Evening_

He wasn't suspicious when Tony hadn't returned home after his date last night. He was definitely worried, but mainly because his teenage son was out with a teenage girl and he hasn't heard from either of the two. It couldn't be helped that he played his parental card of jumping to some worrisome conclusions. He even wasn't all that concerned when he still hadn't seen him in the morning. After all, with himself still playing catch up at work, it wasn't entirely new to not see Tony ever morning. Though what finally concerned him, was the visit of his son's best friend.

"Is Tony in his room?" Rhodey asked when they finished exchanging pleasantries.

Howard could only shrug. He hasn't seen his son all day, so he couldn't give a straight answer. "You're free to go check."

He glanced at the clock as Rhodey excused himself to go find Tony. It was a little past 3:30, which would mean Rhodey came here straight from school. Which brought upon a question: Why wasn't Tony with him? Shaking the question from his mind, he situated himself back at the island counter to sip at his much-needed coffee as he pulled some paperwork towards him. He needed to get these done and prepared for the upcoming company meeting in a few days.

"I couldn't find him," Rhodey announced walking back through the kitchen. "Maybe he got caught up in his lab."

Howard set down the coffee cup and nodded. "That seems like him. I'd check there. Is it important that you talk to him? I can try calling him home."

Rhodey only sighed at the offer. "It's not too important. He just missed his date with Pepper last night and I told her I'd ask him why, but it's fine. I'll talk to him tomorrow. Good luck calling him, though. Pepper's been trying all day."

"Wait, what?" Howard directed all his attention to the teen before him.

"Tony didn't show up for his date with Pepper last night, and Pepper's not too happy about it," Rhodey reiterated.

It was this new string of information that completed the puzzle. A puzzle he wished he hadn't needed to solve. One that he doesn't wish to share with the boy in front of him or the girl that he doesn't doubt cares for Tony nearly as much as he himself had. All the basis of one thing: Tony would never miss their first date for the world.

The conclusion brought the, unfortunately, familiar feeling of dread to his gut.

 _Tony's been kidnapped_.

 **So...how was it? I realized that I bounce around with the time so I'll try to write in the time shifts when necessary because sometimes things move back and forth in time...Other than that, what did you guys think of the chapter?**

 **I can't think of a fun fact right now, so I'll fill it in with a book suggestion for you guys. How would you guys feel about that in place of the fun facts I can't think of?**

 **Book Suggestion: _Unwind_ by Neal Shusterman. I HIGHLY recommend this book. It's one of my favorites! **

**Hugs and Love, SilverPedals~! :P**


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